GIMPtalk online chat room (now even simpler)

Click HERE to join the GimpTalk chat!
This opens directly in your browser using the mibbit client.
If you don't see any people on, click the button named "Idlers" on the top right.
Even if people don't talk to you right away, say Hi and hang around - many are online in the chat all day and might not notice you for a while.
Please try to use the same nickname as you use on GT!
Welcome!

The GIMPtalk chat channel is a place to discuss and get to know your fellow GIMP:ers in a more interactive and fast way. This IRC channel has recently relocated onto the GIMPnet network (irc.gimp.org), and is called #gimptalk (if you visited the chat earlier, on Dalnet, you need to change your bookmarks). If you already know IRC, that's all you need to know.

If you do not want to -- or cannot -- use the web-based mibbit chat from the huge link above, you can also use a stand-alone IRC client. These tend to be faster and have more features.

Look at the end of this post for a host of IRC clients you can try.

Some useful IRC commands

IRC is the mother of all chat programs, and there are plenty of powerful options available to you. All are accessed with commands beginning with /. Many clients have nice buttons to do these things for you without writing any commands too. here is a list of commands you can use:

Remember also that to find us, you MUST go to the GIMPnet server network. If you go to any other network and join the channel, you will either end up in another #gimptalk channel if it exists and happen to have that name, or you will create a new, empty channel named #gimptalk with only you in it. So make sure you log onto GIMPnet, nothing else. If the link above didn't work for you, once you are connected to GIMPnet (irc.gimp.org) with any client, give the command

/list - lists all channels on the gimpnet network. #gimptalk is one of those. Also the official gimp irc channels are on this network, but don't disturb the devs unless you really have reason (it can be fun to just listen in though).

/me -- refer to yourself. So if I would write /me grins, others see *Griatch grins*.

/away MyReason - sets you to away and allows you to give a reason for why. People doing /whois on you will see this message.

/whois NickName - gives info on another user in the channel. This is also how you check messages set with /away.

/msg NickName - open a private chat with a user (often you can do this from a button too) .

/help - get a list of all irc commands.

The Bots

There is a bot in chat called "GIMPtalk-bot" (there is also another called "Jester"). This looks like a normal user but is actually a program that manages channel operations and some fun stuff for us. Whereas normal IRC commands always start with a /, you talk to the bot and gives it commands by starting your line with @.

Good bot commands to know are:

/msg GIMPtalk-bot - talk in private to the bot (needed when giving passwords, also good for not spamming the common channel).

@seen NickName - gives the last time a person with the nick NickName was active in the chat.

@register MyNick MyPassword - register your nick with the bot, so you can be the only one to use it. (You have to talk privately to the bot).

@identify MyNick MyPassword - log in on the bot, if you had already registered (have to talk privately to the bot).

@list - lists all modules available to the bot.

@list ModuleName - list commands in a module (example: @list Games).

@help CommandName - get help on a command.

@help ModuleName CommandName - get help on a command in a specific module.

@praise NickName - hand out a random praise to NickName.

@insult NickName - hand out a random insult to NickName.

@roulette - play a round of russian roulette. Be careful though, if you are unlucky you will be killed ...

IRC with Firefox web browser (any operating system?)

If you use Firefox, you can download the extension Chatzilla from the official firefox extension pages (tools->Add-ons->Get Extensions in Firefox). Once it's installed, open the extension options and choose a nick in preferences menu (if you have a membership on GIMPtalk,we recommend using the same nick in IRC, for easier recognition). Next write /server irc.gimp.net, then /join #gimptalk.

The Firefox Chatzilla IRC client (Linux version)

IRC with Opera web browser (any operating system?)

The Opera browser has an in-built IRC client from the start. Just click the link and you should be good to go.

Windows stand-alone IRC clients

Internet Explorer has no separate IRC client whatsoever, as far as I have discerned. Why this is, I don't know -- probably MS want to single out one of their own products instead, as usual. Anyway, if you're still using IE, you should ditch that and get Firefox anyway... If you really, really want don't want to do that (because your uncle is Bill Gates and you'll loose your inheritance if you don't use IE), you need to get a stand-alone IRC program. Read on.

The most popular stand-alone IRC client under Windows is mIRC, and I really don't understand why, because it not only costs money, it's also so ugly there's no end to it. It works, but I think you'll find it ugly and unattractive.

The mIRC IRC client. Yes -- it really looks like this.

Rather, I would recommend Xchat (this exists for Linux too). In xchat, all you need to do is set your nick, find "GIMPnet" in the network list, connect to it and then write /join #GIMP to get into the chat channel. Simple as pie.

The Xchat IRC client (Linux version, Windows works the same).

Tarkenfire did a great and easy tutorial on how to install the free stand-along IRC client Trillian:
You can find the step-by step tutorial on Trillian here..

There is a long list of Windows clients found here.
Post below if you find any other good programs to use under Windows.

Linux stand-alone IRC clients

If you use Linux, you'll almost certainly have a stand-alone IRC chat program like xIRC or kSIRC included already, even if you for some reason don't like Chatzilla. Xchat (see Windows clients) also exists for Linux.

kSIRC, Linux only

Mac stand-alone IRC clients

I can't help you with Mac programs, but I bet it's similar there. There is a list of clients here though. Check it out and let me know if they're any good.

This is an experiment to see if there is an interest in this kind of chat. You're welcome to drop by! Also, if you like to keep the channel alive and populated, try to bump this thread now and then, so other people see it and can join in.

xchat will work just fine. But you have to go to the DalNET server (irc://dalnet I would think). Going to freenode won't do you any good. The channel looks empty because it didn't exist before you just created it on freenode using your /join command.
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Griatch

Hmm ... I don't know what you mean by "hacked to hell", it works nicely here. The server name is just dalnet as far as I know though. One word. Easiest is really to try out chatzilla to see that you can get to it, if you want gaim, you can experiment from there.

With chatzilla installed, just write irc://dalnet/GIMP in firefox and you will be taken there ...
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Griatch

As it turns out, irc://dalnet/GIMP is the same thing as irc.dal.net; the second is the address some IRC clients (mine, at least) would prefer. Unfortunately, DALnet has some intense dislike for GAIM, the IRC client I use. It blocked me on account of something called "EX/COMP" (http://kline.dal.net...akills.htm#comp). Apparently they think my computer is too insecure. :a: I think their server just hates GAIM. :w: That means I'm not going to be on very often, because I much prefer GAIM to the crude FF approximation of an IRC client which just doesn't stand up to GAIM's elegant usability. :w:

Also, are you aware of irc.gimp.org (irc://gimp.org for you FF users)? That one GAIM can connect to.

Ah, I see you logged on last night (my night, that is). Sorry I missed you, but if you read my away message you would have figured it out. :-) Don't know why Gaim is not liked by Dalnet though, that's strange. Unless you're running a version of Gaim that's known to be insecure of course (that's essentially what that message means I suppose).
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Griatch

I'm always online there, but I'm mostly on during the day (GMT), at least during the week. If I'm away, use the /whois command to see the away message and whether I'm actually around or not.

As is the case with all IRC, if you go there, hang around even if you happen to be alone. It's a sort of ketchup effect. Even idling people will make others interested in dropping by. Soon the numbers grow and eventually there will be enough people there for constant chatting.
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Griatch

For those Windows users of IRC, DALNet's been the victim of several attacks and caused the server's instability, so you're unable to connect to a random server via /server irc.dal.net. You have to type in a specific server if you want to connect; here's a server list.